Detective Yuber
by EternallyLost
Summary: One of the worst enemies of Budehuc Castle arrive on their doorstep and solves a baffling murder case. It's time for Yuber to make a name as a detective. Inspired by Detective Conan.


Detective Yuber  
  
By EternallyLost   
  
Proving I'm not dead yet.  
  
A Suikoden III fanfic  
  
Idea stolen shamelessly from Detective Conan  
  
-----  
  
Case One: Dining and Murder Don't Mix  
  
-----  
  
Budehuc Castle was a great center of activity. Even after Luc and his minions had been defeated, the world saved, the True Runes back where they belonged... the truth of the matter was, the people living there had come to like this grimy old castle. And so it was that, even with tensions mounting once again between Grasslands and Zexen, the main players of both sides still resided in one place. The Six Mighty Knights of Zexen, under Chris, and almost all the leaders of the various Grasslands clans were still living in Budehuc Castle, watching plays, eating at Mamie's restaurant, and generally having a good ol' time together despite the affairs of their own country, clan, or village.  
  
It was likely that, in time, each and every group would go their separate ways, except for Thomas and the core of the castle, but for now the people were happy to reside there. They had been in the castle for several months, but they never got a chance to enjoy staying there, with the threat of impending doom and destruction, and all of that.  
  
It was a great place to be, all in all, as any of the Fire Bringers would gladly say. It was starting to feel like a real home, a real town.  
  
And it was this place, at that time, that one of their greatest enemies appeared.  
  
Yuber had survived his fateful encounter with Geddoe. In the end, both he and Albert had survived the war, though Luc and Sarah had perished.  
  
No big loss there, he supposed. Sarah had always seemed quite whiny to him. He had requested to kill her once to Luc, but he said no. And that, in itself, was good reason for Luc to die. He wasn't worthy of the True Wind Rune he had carried.  
  
Albert, though, was a decent chap. Last Yuber heard from him, he had shipped off to the Queendom of Falena, to offer his considerable talents as a strategist there.  
  
And so Yuber was standing at the gates of Budehuc Castle, where his worse enemies in the war still resides. He wasn't there for revenge though; such petty thoughts were beyond Yuber.... mostly.   
  
He was there because, quite honestly, he was bored.  
  
Now, to understand the extent of his boredom, one must understand Yuber's past. The blond swordsman had been living for several hundred years. It had been only a decade or two after receiving his own True Rune that Windy approached him, and Yuber became a subordinate for several centuries; only until, in fact, eighteen or so years ago. Back then, he was always given things to do, people to kill, or even places to protect.  
  
After her death, Yuber was left with only two things to do.  
  
The first was to make sure the True Runes were secure. They didn't belong in the hands of weaklings, so Yuber made it his duty to find the bearers of True Runes... and kill them. If they died, he could seal away the True Rune. If they survived, then they were obviously not weak, and didn't even need their True Runes taken away, and Yuber could then let them be.  
  
The second thing for him to do was cause chaos, though Yuber had his own thoughts. You see, he never caused chaos, that was below him. All he did was simply aid it, help it flow, to ebb, to surge... he never started it, though.  
  
So that led to his current problem. Every True Rune was either dormant, or in the hands of somebody Yuber personally deemed worthy. That left him only with chaos, of which there was none. Every kingdom was at peace, every army dormant.  
  
To be quite blunt, there was nothing left for him to do.  
  
So Yuber thought, why the hell not? He decided to settle down for a bit and see what the rest of humanity was up to. And there was no greater place to see humanity in its fullest than Budehuc Castle, where Harmonians, Grasslanders, Zexens, and other people from around the world gathered peacefully.  
  
Of course, there was the problem that half the castle wanted him dead on sight, but he could deal with that later.  
  
The black-clad warrior waltzed into the castle complex, surveying his surroundings. Several shops to the front, an inn a bit to the right, and several paths leading elsewhere. He supposed he could explore the castle a bit...  
  
Well, his first order of business was getting a place to sleep, so he should probably do that first.  
  
As the man walked into the inn, he immediately noticed something was wrong. There was a large crowd gathered to his right, in another room where he supposed they served the food. The crowd wasn't gathered for a celebration, or anything. Hushed whispers went around through the crowd, and they seemed to be gathered around something, or someone. Hardly a dinner crowd.  
  
Within the crowd, Yuber recognized several faces. Fred, the current leader of the Maximillian Knights. Aila, the young Karayan girl whose name he only knew because he had once almost killed her, and enraged the blond archer to unreasonable levels as he shouted her name. There was also Hugo, the leader of the Fire Bringers and the new Flame Champion, owner of the True Fire Rune. Several other faces were recognized, though he couldn't place a name to any of those. And even more he didn't recognize at all; probably civilians living or working in the castle complex.  
  
Curiosity overcame the blond swordsman. Completely ignoring the fact that several of the people there could recognize him and wanted him dead, Yuber pushed his way to the front of the crowd, eliciting a gasp from both Fred and Hugo as they were shoved aside rather rudely, Yuber making his way past them.  
  
The scene that greeted Yuber was a messy one. A girl, no older than seventeen, lied dead, her body slumped against the wall, a trail of blood about four to five feet up and trailing down making it appear as if she died standing, then fell to a sitting position. It was the only spot of blood in the room, other than her body and clothes. The room showed signs of a struggle, as well, such as an overturned table nearby.  
  
There seemed to be only a single wound. It was on her chest, a huge vertical gash, apparently made by the thrust of a large blade.  
  
Crouched over her body, examining her with his small magnifying glass, was Kidd, the boy detective. He looked up from the body, still holding the magnifying glass in front of his right eye, and blinked as he noticed Yuber. "Who're you?" he asked, since the older man had stepped away from the throng of people and into the area they left for him.  
  
Before Yuber could say anything, Hugo had rushed forward, his dagger drawn. "Yuber! You bastard! You came here and killed poor Diane!" He bit off a curse; there were too many people in too small of an area, he couldn't use his True Fire Rune. But he was also confident that, while he knew he couldn't beat Yuber, he could hold off the madman long enough for help to arrive...  
  
Yuber could assume Diane was the girl. He fixed the Flame Champion with a glare. "Honestly, Hugo, you're so bothersome."  
  
His reply caught Hugo flat-footed, and he simply stood in shock for a moment as Yuber walked over to the body, taking care to gently (well, maybe not that gently) shove the boy detective out of the way. He casually tugged the top of the girl's dress; it was already partially shredded for the huge cut and fell easily. "Look at this wound, Hugo. Does it look like one of my swords did this?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Fred asked, pushing his way through the crowd and standing next to his leader. His sword was drawn, pointed at Yuber. "It looks to me like you did it, fiend!"  
  
"Yeah!" Kidd piped up. "That's exactly what I was going to say!"  
  
As Hugo and Fred prepared to lay the beat-down, a body interposed itself between the two and their target.  
  
"Oi," Emily said irritated, "don't you guys think you should at least listen to him?"  
  
"What?!" Hugo shouted. "He's the bad guy!" He stared at her incredulously. You've fought him, haven't you?!"  
  
She did; she had a scar on her shoulder to prove it, too. "Yeah," the girl admitted, "but that doesn't mean anything. I mean, the Zexens and Grasslanders were enemies, right? And look at them now!"  
  
Near the back of the room, a group consisting of a Karayan, Zexen knight, and lizard soldier all chuckled nervously.  
  
"This is a bit different, my lady," the young Maximillian Knight leader replied, slightly exasperated.  
  
"He's a tough guy," Emily insisted, "he could've killed somebody twenty times over if that was his intention!"  
  
"He did," Hugo replied flatly. "That's why we're trying to kill him, remember?"  
  
"You have no proof," Yuber replied from behind Emily. "And if you allow me to finish, I can prove, at least, that I didn't do it."  
  
Hugo growled. "Well? How do you intend to prove it, then?"  
  
Yuber pointed once again to the wound on the girl's chest. "This was done in a thrust," he explained. "The blade was much larger than mine would be, even you can see that." Hugo took his eyes off Yuber to glance at the wound; it did appear to be a large blade. "And, there's one other thing," Yuber continued. He squatted down and pointed to the sides of the wound. "Look at this. This flesh is torn."  
  
"What's that have to do with anything?" a young man, to the side, asked.  
  
Yuber gave the man a once-over. Tall, scraggly black hair to his shoulders, and an inexperienced air about him. Not one of the Stars of Destiny, that's for sure. "I'll tell you exactly what it means." The scene was replaying itself in Yuber's mind, he could see it happening. The evidence fit...  
  
The killer pulled out his sword, or perhaps halberd. The girl ran; in her haste, she knocked over the table. As she reached the wall, she turned around and was stabbed. One of two things happened; his killer either yanked up on his sword, or the girl's body fell down while the killer allowed it to remain at the same height... Then he shoved her off the sword, letting her hit the wall behind her and her body slumped down.  
  
"...either way," Yuber continued, "the flat back-end of the blade couldn't cut through her flesh. As the blade went up, or her body down, the sides of the wound tore, making the wound much nastier than a simple stab. It would be physically impossible with a double-bladed sword, such as my own." To prove his point, he drew one of his King Crimson. Both Hugo and Fred had their weapons ready, and Aila had run off to get help, but Yuber simply tossed the sword to Emily, who caught it.  
  
"He's right, you know," the young martial artist said, moving the sword around. "It's definitely double-bladed. I have trouble imagining this sword doing all that."  
  
"That's because it can't," the man stated simply, walking behind Emily and taking his sword back.  
  
"So, then why are you here?" Hugo challenged, maddened by his enemy's rebuttals.  
  
Yuber's reply was simple. "To settle down." He snorted. "Certainly didn't expect this kind of welcome."  
  
"What else would you expect?" a feminine voice asked to his right. Several heads turned to see Lucia, chief of the Karaya Clan. "Eh, Yuber?"  
  
The blond swordsman simply shrugged. "I don't know, to tell you the truth. But I thought it'd be fun."  
  
"You would," Lucia replied calmly. She turned to her son. "Hugo, you have to have evidence before you go accusing people of a crime."  
  
"He's the enemy!" Hugo shouted once again, waving his free hand toward Yuber. "He kills people, remember!"  
  
"There isn't a fighter in this castle who hasn't," Lucia replied evenly. "We fought on different sides of a war, but that war is over. We have no reason to pursue him further."  
  
Fred had sheathed his sword by that point. "Well, I still hold some doubt." He turned his head toward Yuber, narrowing his eyes. "Be forewarned, should you go and try any evil acts, the Maximillian Knights will spare nothing to provide justice to the land."  
  
"That's nice," was Yuber's reply.  
  
"You can't just let him off!" a voice cried from the back of the crowd. Yuber's eyes found the source of the voice, the man Yuber recognized as Franz. "We only know his sword didn't do it, not that he didn't."  
  
Several thoughts ran through Yuber's mind, finally settling on one. "Fine, then I'll make a proposal." All eyes turned to him, and he continued. "This case won't be near as difficult as you people make it out to be. I'll solve it myself." Emily cocked her head to the side, and Hugo's grip on his dagger loosened. "I will find irrefutable evidence to who the killer really is. That way, I will prove my own innocence, and also prove my good will toward the castle."  
  
"Good will?" Hugo snorted.  
  
Yuber actually smiled at that. "Well, lack of ill will, at any rate."  
  
-----  
  
And those events are what led to the present. Yuber was leaning over the corpse of Diane, examining her body while Geddoe and Emily watched from the side of the room. The room was empty otherwise, everybody having cleared out on Hugo's orders.  
  
Earlier, Aila had arrived with Geddoe and the entire Twelfth Unit, making a huge scene. After explaining the details again, it had been decided that Yuber couldn't be trusted on his own. Geddoe and Emily were to stay with him, to keep an eye on him, but stay out of his way.  
  
While they easily handled the first part, Emily had problems with the latter.  
  
"Haven't you looked over her body enough?" Emily asked, tapping her foot as she leaned against the wall. "I mean, how much more can you find on a body? There's a wound, end of story, right?"  
  
"Not quite," Yuber answered. One might expect him to be annoyed with Emily's pestering, but he took it in stride. She wasn't near as annoying as Sarah. "For example, come take a look at this."  
  
Seeing him motion her over, Emily walked toward the body.  
  
Geddoe, too, silently made his way to the body, either out of curiosity or to keep an eye on Emily and Yuber.  
  
When they were both next to him, the blond man held up the girl's shirt. "Feel this material," he said, not making clear who he meant.  
  
Mentally shrugging, the girl decided to take a hold of the cloth. "Odd," she said, "it's wet."  
  
"Drenched," Yuber retorted. "And only that one sleeve. It makes no sense."  
  
"Sweat," Geddoe replied calmly. "She was about to die, it makes sense she would sweat, does it not?" It fit the supposed murder, at any rate.  
  
"No," was the reply. "It's not sweat." Yuber put down the shirt and stood up, dusting off his pants. "Like I said, it's localized on one sleeve. Why sweat so much, and only have the sleeve be drenched?"  
  
"That is peculiar," the leader of the Twelfth Unit responded.  
  
Yuber glanced around the room. "Emily, what do you know of the murder?"  
  
"Besides what you said?" the girl inquired. Seeing Yuber's nod, she cleared her throat and began. "Well, it happened either during the night, or early morning. Arthur found the body as soon as he began his shift in the morning."  
  
"Arthur?" Yuber interrupted. "Who is that?"  
  
Emily paused. "Oh, he's a butler working at the inn. He and Diane were dating." She felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Poor thing was a sobbing wreck after finding her body."  
  
Yuber idly ran his hands over a candlestick, placed on top a dresser along a wall. Many candlesticks like it dotted tables around the room. "This crime scene hasn't been tampered with, right?"  
  
"No," Emily replied. "Hugo arrived here as soon as Arthur cried for help. He was watching the whole time, to make sure nobody touched the evidence for Kidd."  
  
The warrior tried not to laugh. "Like it'd help that boy anyway." Mentally, he gave Hugo some credit for what he did. It may not have helped Kidd, but it would surely help him. The man looked the room over, trying to find... "Hey, wait a minute," he began, looking at something on the far wall.  
  
"What is it?" Geddoe asked, curious.  
  
Yuber motioned to the far wall, where a door was. "Where does that door lead? Outside?"  
  
"No," Emily responded. The girl explained, "That's a supply closet. Brooms, mops, stuff like that."  
  
Yuber paused. "I see," he replied. "I think I'll take a look through it."  
  
"Wait!" Emily cried, halting Yuber after no more than two steps toward the door.  
  
"What?" Yuber growled, turning around. He hadn't been irritated by the girl so far, but calling for him to wait for no reason...  
  
The young girl laughed. "Er, it's just that the door's always locked. We'll need Sebastian to open it."  
  
Yuber's irritability disappeared. "Oh," he responded flatly. "Well, let us get him, then."  
  
The trio made their way out of the dining room, Emily and Yuber leading and Geddoe trailing behind. It didn't take them long to find Sebastian, sitting in a chair near the entrance, a solemn expression on his face.  
  
"That's Sebastian," Emily offered, causing the man to raise his head when he heard his name mentioned.  
  
"I see," Yuber replied. He stepped forward. "Sebastian, we require your keys to get into the storage area." He paused, then continued. "Oh, and see if you can't find that Arthur fellow, the one who was in a relationship with the girl."  
  
"Arthur?" Sebastian wondered. "Why do you want him?"  
  
"My business," Yuber replied.  
  
-----  
  
It took only about ten minutes for Sebastian to come back, Arthur in tow.  
  
"What... what do you want with me?" Arthur asked, fearfully. He had heard stories of the dreadful Yuber...  
  
Yuber smiled, trying to put the man at ease, but also failing miserably at it. "Only a few minor things. Information, mostly. Who Diane spends time with, who her friends and enemies are. No better man to ask than you, is there?"  
  
Arthur ran a bandaged hand through his scraggly black hair. Yuber recognized him, at that moment, as the young man who had asked about the torn sides of Diane's wounds. "I suppose I could do that," he muttered.  
  
"Come," Yuber said, "we'll talk while I work." He reached out for the handle of the supply room door, forgetting that it hadn't been unlocked...  
  
...And surprised everybody by opening it.  
  
Sebastian was the most shocked, perhaps. "What?" He looked startled. "I was sure I locked that door last night!"  
  
Yuber's eyes narrowed, and he turned to Sebastian. "Who else has a set of keys that allows them in here?" He could narrow down his suspect list this way, if things worked out right...  
  
"All of the inn's cleaning staff," Sebastian replied.  
  
"Diane probably opened it," Arthur offered. "She must've left something here, or something... it'd explain why she was here so late, or maybe early."  
  
"Early," Yuber responded absently. "And that makes sense, much as I hate to admit." And he did hate that. So much for narrowing the suspect list, the victim had keys to the room. Either she had been in there herself, or her killer could have used them later, but the keys were likely not the killer's own.  
  
The group made their way into the room. Yuber, Emily, Sebastian, and Arthur all filed inside, then Geddoe entered, closing the door behind him. The room was fairly large, and a lot of open space, more than Yuber would expect for storage.  
  
After bringing up that point aloud, Sebastian explained. "Well, this was originally intended to be a sort of museum; an additional room on the inn to store relics, for tourists to see." He blushed, looking down. I'm the one who made it into a storage room, because I knew we'd never get any tourists."  
  
"That explains the weapons along the wall," Geddoe commented idly, leaning against the door.  
  
Indeed, a multitude of weapons ran along the wall. A strange sword, curving along its entire length. Another one, with a narrow base and a wide end, but nonetheless sharp and intimidating. Two spears, which Yuber recognized as fire spears.  
  
There were also several small, wooden tubs, used to hold water for cleaning or laundry. A variety of mops, brooms, and other cleaning tools. Nothing out of the ordinary.  
  
After looking over everything, Yuber noticed something, shoved away in the corner of the room. He walked over and picked it up.  
  
"What is that?" Sebastian asked.  
  
"My last clue," Yuber replied. "I know who killed Diane, and exactly how he did it." He held up a single glove, fitted for the left hand, with a large cut along its palm.  
  
-----  
  
"What do you mean, you figured it out?" Geddoe was skeptical, to say the least. "There haven't been nearly enough clues yet. And you haven't even interviewed Arthur for suspects!"  
  
"I don't need to," Yuber replied calmly. "After all, he's the one who did it."  
  
"What?!" Emily shouted, just as Arthur gasped in shock.  
  
Sebastian was quite beside himself. "I don't know where you get off accusing this man, but I can assure you he's not the one who did it!"  
  
Yuber placed the glove in a pocket. "I can assure you he did."  
  
"That... that's preposterous!" Arthur retorted. "Why would I kill my girlfriend? And how could I, for that matter?"  
  
"The why I don't know," Yuber responded honestly, "but I can tell you exactly how you did it." He turned to Arthur, looking the man straight in the eyes. "First, and foremost, you lured Diane to this room. She didn't use her key, you used yours. You were in here well before she was. This is where you killed her."  
  
"That's impossible," Geddoe responded before Arthur had a chance. "She was murdered out in the dining room, anybody can see that."  
  
"No," Yuber replied. "He couldn't do that. Too obvious, out there." He nodded. "He can't hide in there, the room is well-lit, the room open and spacious. She would see him well before he had a chance to kill her, and any warning at all would let her run away. A weapon like his was impossible to hide." He looked over the group, ending with the frightened Arthur. "If you chased her, you'd rouse the residents of the inn. You'd be caught, even if she died."  
  
"But she was killed out there!" Emily responded. "The blood stains, and the table, surely you saw them!"  
  
"Of course I did," Yuber responded. "And it was all planted. I knew that all along."  
  
Sebastian looked somewhere between horrified and furious. "Planted? What do you mean? How could you know?" He scowled. "For that matter, how do you plant blood?"  
  
The blond swordsman answered the questions in order. "He wanted to make it look like she was killed in the dining room. I was suspicious as soon as I saw the table. An overturned table means there was an actual struggle, or escape." He waved his hand toward the door. "This inn is in the middle of Budehuc Castle proper. I can't verify it, but I'm sure this inn has many patrons spending the night. Any screaming, or struggling, or crashing, it all would have awakened those people, and Arthur would get caught red-handed."  
  
"How do you know, though?" Arthur asked. "I mean, that the stuff is planted?"  
  
"You're an overachiever, Arthur," Yuber replied calmly. "I noticed earlier than every table had candlesticks on them. But the overturned table didn't. There was nothing on the ground except the table itself." Yuber grinned. "But there were two candlesticks on the dresser by the wall." His grin widened, the importance of what he was saying reaching Geddoe and Emily.   
  
Emily was backing up, and Geddoe's hand was on his sword.  
  
Yuber continued. "The candles had to be set up last night, done that way instead of setting up in the morning. Nobody could set them up in the morning, but they were set up, so I know this."   
  
Arthur was sweating. "Well, what about somebody putting them up there later? Huh?"  
  
Yuber shook his head. "You claimed that you walked in and found Diane dead. You have the first shift. Hugo came there immediately afterwards, and kept anybody from touching the scene. Quite simply, there was no way for somebody to take the candlesticks from the floor and place them on the dresser later. What happened was this." Yuber looked Arthur in the eyes again. "The murderer, you, took the candlesticks and placed them on the dresser before calmly tipping over the table, am I right? A faked struggle, making the murder seem to take place where it didn't."  
  
"That doesn't explain the blood," Sebastian said. His face was pale, and he was grasping at reasons to back up his worker.  
  
Yuber narrowed his eyes. "That has to do with how he murdered her." He walked over to Geddoe, the man wondering what Yuber was up to. Yuber nudged one of the wooden basins into the middle of the room. "As sick as this sounds, this is what happened..."  
  
-----  
  
"Arthur?" Diane's voice was on edge, this place was dark. Where was he? She opened the door to the supply closet, where Arthur said to meet her...  
  
She didn't have time to scream as the blade of a large sword pierced her chest. Blood filled her lungs and she gurgled a bit before dying.  
  
Arthur hefted her dead body over one of the tubs, holding her aloft with the sword. He waited patiently, allowing the blood to fall from her body and into the tub...  
  
-----  
  
"That's insane!" Arthur cried. "You're saying I collected her blood, and used it on the wall?!"  
  
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Yuber replied. "You couldn't risk killing her out in the Dining Room, this was a more logical place, especially with the murder weapon so close at hand." He pointed out the large sword hanging on the wall. "But if the murder took place here, it'd be almost certain you'd be deduced as the killer. Very few have a key back here. With the blood collected, you could fake the perfect crime scene."  
  
"It all fits," Geddoe admitted, "but it doesn't explain how you deduced him as the killer."  
  
"Quite easily," Yuber replied, "though I couldn't be sure until I found this." He reached back into his pocket and drew the glove. "This glove is dragon's hide, from Harmonia. I recognized the material immediately." He threw the glove in the air and caught it in an open palm, the glove making a much heavier sound than it looked like it would make. "It's very heavy, and very durable. It takes a lot to rip one." He looked over at Arthur. "You knew that."  
  
"What does this have to do with anything?" Arthur replied, trying to sound indignant.  
  
"Quite simple," the swordsman replied. He walked over to the sword in question, the large blade with a narrower bottom than top. He hefted it, then with a heave sunk it into the ground, causing Sebastian and Arthur to jump at the display of strength. "Notice anything about the hilt?"  
  
"The hilt?" Emily wondered, looking over the hilt. It looked normal enough...  
  
"It's small," Geddoe replied to Yuber's question. "Made for one hand."  
  
"Right," was Yuber's reply. "Arthur might be fairly strong, but even he can't hold up a body with one hand. He had on the dragon's hide glove and was actually using that hand on the blade."  
  
Emily looked shocked. "That's idiotic!"  
  
"Like I said," Yuber continued, "a glove like this is able to endure a lot. But as he was bringing over the body to the basin, the glove gave out partly, and cut his left hand."  
  
Everybody's eyes turned to Arthur, or more specifically, to his left hand. It was bandaged.  
  
"You cut your hand and dropped the body over the basin." Yuber continued as Arthur began to seethe. "Then you used the blood to fake the death scene. After that, you filled another basin with water to clean yourself, the sword, and this room, before dumping it all outside." The swordsman smiled. "And you entered the dining room and made a big scene. And almost got away with it all."  
  
Geddoe's sword was pointed at Arthur and the Harmonian was between the murderer and the only exit, Arthur was trapped.  
  
The man bowed his head. "You're right," he admitted. "Everything you said is true."  
  
Emily was almost at tears. "Why, though? You and Diane were so perfect together! Why'd you kill her?!"  
  
"It was that sword," Arthur said, a fond smile on his lips. "This place, this room, I'm in here everyday. I look at all those relics on the walls... Do you have any idea how much they're worth?" He shook his head. "I stole that sword and brought it out. I was going to sell it in Vinay Del Zexay. Make a fortune." He looked at Emily. "I told her my plan. I loved her, and didn't want to leave her out of it. We could have been rich! We could've left this stupid castle, and these horrible jobs." He took a deep breath before continuing. "But she wouldn't let me. I pleaded, and reasoned, but she refused! She said she'd report me if I did anything." He lowered his head. "So I told her I'd return the sword, and that she could come watch me do it."  
  
"And you killed her," Yuber finished.  
  
"Damn it!" the man cried, fixing Yuber with a withering gaze. "It's her own damned fault! We could've done it together! But she insisted on... on this!"  
  
"Nobody insists on their own death," the blonde countered. "Nobody does."  
  
"We're going to see Hugo," Geddoe said, simply. He led the small procession into the castle.  
  
-----  
  
"So you didn't do it," Hugo said, looking at Yuber.  
  
Hugo, Geddoe, Emily, Yuber, Arthur, and Kidd were all in Hugo's planning room. Sebastian had left to clean up; after all, the case was solved, and no reason to preserve the scene.  
  
"That was some good work," Kidd said, looking up at Yuber. "I don't... I don't even know if I could've done that!" That was saying a lot for the kid detective, he rarely admitted his flaws. He was looking at Yuber like he had found a new hero. He had. Yuber would be in for a lot of headaches in the future.  
  
"I guess I've proved my innocence, then?" Yuber asked with a smirk.  
  
The Flame Champion countered with his own grin. "And proved your lack of ill will, too."  
  
Both shared a small laugh over that. Then Hugo fixed Arthur with a glare. "This isn't war any more. Arthur. People should feel safe. Especially here, in Budehuc Castle." He snorted. "Take him to the dungeons, Geddoe. We'll deal with his punishment later."  
  
"Sir," Geddoe responded in a military fashion. He led out Arthur, sword drawn to keep Arthur from getting any funny ideas.  
  
"So," Emily began after Geddoe and Arthur were gone, "what are you going to do now Yuber?"  
  
"You're welcome to stay here," Hugo offered. "I may not trust you completely, but the same can be said for Chris." He gave a wry chuckle. "You've done enough to warrant a place here, at any rate."  
  
Yuber was about to respond when Kidd piped up. "Hey! Why don't you open a detective's shop?"  
  
"You mean office?" Yuber responded. "You think I should become a detective?"  
  
"Hey!" Emily said, her face brightening. "That would work!"  
  
"I can get some people to build you an office," Hugo offered. "An apartment above it, for you to live in, too." He grinned. "It'd give you something to do."  
  
The swordsman gave his own grin. "It would give me something to do, wouldn't it?"  
  
-----  
  
Case One: Closed. 


End file.
